Throne Room
by hellsespada1
Summary: "I have news of great interest concerning the human world. News that my Lord will find quite disturbing." BRL


**A/N: Hey guys! There's so much I want to say, but I really don't wanna waste your time with my usual mopey spiels. I definitely haven't given up on this endeavor and I really do wanna keep writing for you guys. I mean, I know I don't have a huge number of readers (let's face it, I'm a pretty niche author) but the fact that even a couple thousand people have enjoyed what I've read is just mind blowing, and from all over the world too. I hope you're all having as much fun with this as I am, and I'm truly sorry if it doesn't seem like I enjoy it. Writing for myself is just hard for me, ya know? Well I failed to avoid rambling, but gushing aside, I hit a huge wall that kept me from meeting my last promise. This little story here took a** _ **massive**_ **sledgehammer to my charted-out plotline and I had to do** _ **a lot**_ **of rethinking. The altered plot only just came to me last weekend and had to be refined and run by my friend who's my beta-reader. Now we're good to go! And don't worry, everything from the old stories still holds. As for the progression, well… things are gonna get a lot more anime like. Please enjoy!**

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 **Throne Room**

Down the lengthy corridor a figure strode with a clear purpose. His rapid footsteps were punctuated by the fall of his cobalt boots, filling the length of the passage with the resonance of his footfalls. The speed with which he moved caused his mid-length silver hair to billow behind him and the unbuttoned jacket of his suit to expose his white dress shirt. Rather than formal pants, he wore a pair of jet black jeans and no tie beneath his collar.

He strode through a number of rooms and halls with haste until finally reaching his destination, a chamber with several sets of demon guards all in full suits and two large doors that were closed.

"Is he expecting you?" One of the guards said upon his approach.

"Need his second in command make an appointment?"

"I only ask because his mood has been foul of late. I hope, at least, that you bring some good news." He pushed the door on his right open and gestured for the other man to enter.

"Nothing of the sort, I'm afraid." He passed through the door and heard it drift shut behind him.

The guard on the other side of the doors exhaled loudly through his nose. "Why am I not surprised?"

The room behind the doors was long and sparsely decorated. There stood only a handful of statues of various demons partially in shadow at the edges of the room, all the rest of the walls and floor were bare save for a black, velvet carpet that stretched the length of the chamber from the door to the foot of an obsidian throne. As the silver-haired man approached, he could see that the seat was empty.

A figure stood off to one side, back to the door, clutching the edge of the throne for support, the white sleeve of a dress shirt the only thing not covered by its flowing, ebony cape. At the thud of the second in command's knee upon the floor, the caped figure raised its form slightly. A head of short, raven hair rose above the matching cape. Unlike the kneeling man, this figure bore a set of impressive curled horns that jutted out from below its hair.

When it spoke, it was a man's firm voice that echoed forth; not deep, but commanding, and it filled the room. "Why have you come?"

"I have news of great interest concerning the human world. News that my Lord will find quite disturbing." The kneeling man answered without raising his head.

The figure didn't stir. "The human world? What interest is that to me? What they do and what our kind does there is of your concern, not mine. Or has that task become too great for you?"

"No Overlord, I assure you, it is indeed worthy of your attention. It is-!"

"Speak then!" Clenched fist was slammed against his throne. "Tarry no longer on the matter of its interest, merely tell me what it is!"

"Of course, my Lord. You see, my attention has been drawn to a succubus in particular. A long-haired brunette with sapphire eyes was-"

A great gust of air tore straight towards the kneeling man, whipped up by a swing of the Overlord's cape. The man tilted his head slightly to the side and let the sudden attack sail over his shoulder where it crashed to the door at the far end, shaking dust from the ceiling and causing the guards on the opposite side to jump into action and quickly bar the door for support, knowing full well what would come next.

The silver-haired man was also familiar with the Overlord's wrath, already dodging a flurry of dark orbs that were being launched from his master's fists. He shifted side to side to let them pass, dodging easily enough since the Overlord was more interested in firing them off than actually hitting his target. After a few dozen of these, he let out a shout that sent a pulse of darkforce rippling throughout the room and sweeping over his subordinate. Black cape swung up around him, he vanished and reappeared before the kneeling man, taking him by the throat and slamming him repeated into the foundation before chucking him down the whole length of the great hall where he crashed spread-eagled against the door. The Overlord warped over. This time he seized his underling by the collar and suplexed him, releasing his hold early so that the man was instead sent hurtling back down the hall towards the throne. He tumbled along the ebony carpet in an uncontrolled roll until just before the throne where he was stopped, once more upright and kneeling, by the Overlord's dress shoe resting on his shoulder.

"Forgive me." Was the first thing he spoke as he helped his vassal up from the floor and dusted him off.

"You are without fault, Overlord. I feared that you would not take well the implication of this news. The appearance of the girl is not what is important. I do not mean to imply that she is, could possibly be, your-"

"If it is unimportant, then do not press it further, my dear vassal!" The Overlord slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne as he took his seat for the first time, more dust raining down from the high ceiling. "Do not dig matters unnecessarily out of their graves!"

The silver-haired man bowed at the waist. "Forgive me, my Lord. I wish to do nothing of the sort. My intention is only to inform his highness of-"

"Tch! And drop the formalities, Destiny." The Overlord put his head in his hands and sighed exhaustedly. "Suddenly, I'm not in the mood."

Destiny pulled his fingers through his ivory locks and sighed as well. "Sorry, Shiro. I thought you still liked all that formality shit."

"Not after you've upset me, my friend."

"They're just the facts I was told, man."

Shiro walked over to the man and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I know. Come, we'll talk in my chamber. It's far more comfortable and there are better drinks."

"You don't gotta tell me twice, Shiro."

They both vanished from the hall. A slow creaking could be heard from the other end of the room as the door was pushed open. One of the guards tentatively stuck his head out and peered down towards the throne.

"I think it's safe to open. Looks like they left."

"Good." The guard from the other side answered. "The airflow in here is terrible with those things closed."

00000

Destiny and Shiro had taken up seats opposite a desk in the Overlord's study, wine glasses in hand.

Shiro sipped generously from his glass before addressing his vassal. "Nothing more about her looks. What's the matter with her?"

"The matter..." Destiny set down his glass. "That's a bit hard to answer. She was spotted by an informant of mine who was preying at a beach just the other day."

"And that should interest me? Succubi and incubi are always about with humans. Hell, this informant of yours was up to the same thing. I take it it was broad daylight, but even that's still not significant. There're ones out during the day; it's just a matter of preference." He raised his glass to drink again.

Destiny's features were unreadable, "She was with a girl."

"Preference."

"A long-haired blond who seemed to... possess her."

Shiro's glass halted at his lips. "Interesting..."

Destiny was tapping his fingers on the desk as he recalled the details, "My informant was in a group that tried to pick her up."

"She refused?"

"The way he said it, the human girl refused for her. She held her covetously and sent them off. Actually, he said the human girl bit her ear and our dear sister seemed to cum on the spot. I doubt it was just from that, though. Seems they're a regular pair of exhibitionists."

"Naruhodo... and that's the issue of great concern, Destiny? A saucy beach encounter?"

"Nahhh, I just thought you'd find it hot! Overlord or not, you're still an incubus." He drained the rest of his wine.

Shiro allowed himself a small smile and shook his head, setting down his glass, "I'll admit it's an appealing image, but I get the feeling there's more to this story."

"Shiro..." Destiny's look turned grave and he gently laid his glass aside for fear he might shatter it in his grip, "She shouldn't have been there."

Shiro was also finishing his wine and replacing the glass on the table, "Eh?"

"She wasn't registered. I personally checked all the records when nothing came back. There's no record of her or any succubus matching her description in the surrounding area."

"No record? Gods, Des, I only gave you half a century; don't tell me you missed someone!"

The pair burst into a hearty fit of laughter that filled the chamber and then stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Their expressions were all the more serious afterwards, ligt-brown eyes meeting with soft black in unblinking concern.

"What are your fears?" Shiro spoke shortly.

"The way I see it, it isn't good. Naturally she was in disguise among the humans so my informant assessed her to be a succubus based on her situation, but that doesn't hold."

"A misread on his part? Have you widened the search?"

"I have. No female demon of any race matching her exact description is on record being in the area, now or anywhere in the past."

"So she's in hiding."

"In plain sight."

"Though that doesn't mean she always been this obvious. And that means-"

"Exactly. She's been hiding long enough to become complacent, and her girlfriend could be the reason for her suddenly surfacing."

Shiro nodded, "That would tie in well with complacency."

"It would."

A thick silence hung between them.

"We're still avoiding the issue," Shiro sighed heavily and dropped his head in his hands once more.

Destiny set his jaw. "Yeah... There's obviously no question of her being a demon. No doubt any demon can correctly identify one of their own. But..."

"But there's barely a handful of souls that could identify one of..." He raised his head and looked straight at his vassal, "...you."

"Yeah. Not too many of us going around these days. I think the last count was, uhh..." He pointed a finger back at himself.

"This is serious, Des."

"Oh, I know it, Shiro. Don't I know it. And what's worse, it happened on my watch."

"Nothing's happened yet. Let's focus on the present. I want you to personally look into this."

"You mean, I should...?"

The Overlord shook his head after a moment's hesitation. "No. Just surveillance. We can't go killing people on mere assumption. Just find out who she is and what her circumstances are. If she seems docile enough, you can try to speak to her directly. If she's been hiding as long as we think, she might know more than we do." Shiro rose to his feet and clasped his hands behind his back. "I'd like you to do so immediately, my trusted vassal."

Rising along with him, Destiny threw a stray lock of silver hair back into place. He clenched his right fist and placed it against his opposite shoulder, bowing his head as he did so. "It will be done, Overlord."

The two parted ways, the cloaked man turning towards the large window behind his desk, hands still folded behind his back, and Destiny opting for a conventional exit through the office door. Before pulling it closed behind him, he tarried with his hand on the frame and spoke without looking back at his friend.

"Shiro... Is it really prudent not to kill her outright? If she's truly what we fear, she's had more than enough time to-"

"Destiny..." Shiro let the word hang in the air, "Do you think it's written in stone? What good is a prophecy when gods are so fickle. If it were so simple, I'm sure the world would have ended by now."

"In other words, if it could be one ghost, why not another?"

Shiro didn't answer.

The silver-haired man sighed, but not without a small smile on his lips. "It's just as well, I suppose. If it really could be her, even I'd have trouble in that fight. Oh, and thanks for the drink."

He closed the door without another word and his footsteps sounded up the stairwell as he descended the stone spiral that lead to the Overlord's personal chamber.

Shiro remained staring out the window which overlooked a vast stretch of the Demon Realm. His domain. He too allowed himself to smile. "You never were one to go easy on him, were you... Nanoha?"

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 **A/N: The plot thickens! Don't worry about this being such a huge change of pace; it'll all come together. Next up we have another plot heavy sex scene! Till next time.**


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